MEET the trailblazing tattooists who are helping vulnerable women not to get inked up.
Women’s support The Donegal Uplift Project last week revealed in the Donegal News that females were being forced to get tattoos.
The charity also reported how that the women are being helped by a female tattoo designer who identifies people getting a tattoo against their will.
Tattoo artist Genevieve Healy has now spoken out and told this newspaper: “There are occasions in which serious underlying issues are at play.”
Kelpie Tattoo Colletive designer Genevieve Healy.
Genevieve said: “While tattooing has a long pedigree as a way of shaping and expressing one’s personal identity, there is another, less savoury history in which it has served as a means of exerting control and expressing ownership over others.
“This remains alive today in the form of coercive control in which designs are prescribed by partners rather than requested by those receiving them.
“Sometimes these situations are obvious, with demanding and aggressive people leading visibly intimidated partners to enquire about tattoos that they appear to be directing.
“When we worked in other studios, refusals to take on this kind of work occasionally led to abusive partners becoming angry and violent, potentially endangering the victim.
“We wanted a covert way to offer a way out for people who may be experiencing domestic abuse without alerting their partner, and the additional question on our seemingly standard consent form has become an inconspicuous flag that can be raised safely and quietly if needed.”
Genevieve made a simple but hugely impactful change by adding one discreet question to her standard consent form: ‘Do you feel pressured or coerced into getting this tattoo?’
Tattoo abuse: studios can identify coercion.
A consent form provided by Kelpie Tattoo Collective so women can indicate if they are being coerced.
She says her studio Kelpie Tattoo Collective is female-owned and employs female tattoo artists to give women a safe, welcoming place.
Genevieve added: “One of the thornier topics in this regard is couples’ tattoos.
“As a policy, we don’t tattoo partners’ names; it’s considered bad luck, and can turn out badly regardless of how a person might feel in a particular moment.
“Beyond questions of superstition and personal taste, we also offer protection against tattoos being a means of exerting control and expressing ownership over others.”
Left to right: Women’s support group Donegal Uplift Project’s clinical director Jessica Gallagher with Kelpie Tattoo Collective designers Brittany Lynch and Genevieve Healy.
Genevieve’s initiative comes one year after the HSE launched an initiative to identify domestic abuse victims.
The HSE, gardai, and women’s support groups coordinated for the safety project which was to oversee a new training initiative in Letterkenny so salon professionals could help abuse and addiction sufferers.
The Donegal News recently reported that the celebrated initiative to identify domestic abuse victims could be re-launched.
Women’s support director Jessica Gallagher of the Donegal Uplift Project this week said: “Genevieve’s initiative shows the different ways that a community can make an impact.”
Uplift works with women affected by issues such as “domestic abuse, coercive control, and sexual violence”.
Jessica added: “Genevieve noticed women coming into the studio accompanied by partners who appeared to be making decisions for them.
“Some women seemed hesitant, uncomfortable, or unsure about the tattoo they were about to receive, but were reluctant to say so in front of the person they had arrived with.
“The consent form question seems like a small change, but it has already made a significant difference to several women.
“Sometimes the people best placed to spot the signs are tattoo artists, hairdressers, beauticians, teachers, pharmacists, bartenders, neighbours, and colleagues.”
Kelpie Tattoo Collective can be contacted at First Floor, Larkin House, Oldtown Road, Letterkenny.